South Orange Family YMCA’s expansion remains in limbo until the required second access way is approved; officials to present an amended plan to Village of Monroe on Jan. 15

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Photo by Nancy KrizThis is the area where the South Orange Family YMCA wants to create an access way crossing the county’s Heritage Trail by the Y and emerge between Wally’s Ice Cream stand and the laundromat, connecting onto Route 17M.

By Nancy Kriz

MONROE — The South Orange Family YMCA’s $2.1 million expansion project remains on hold and may remain in limbo with the Y’s expansion in Monroe possibly at stake unless, and until, a required second access way to the facility is approved.

This comes after Y officials announced this past October that over $625,000 was raised from the community to support the expansion and renovation at the Y, which includes building a new community pool and new community programs and services.

Y officials met with Village of Monroe and Town of Monroe officials last Friday in another effort to secure the second access way required by the Village of Monroe Planning Board.

That didn’t happen, Ira Besdansky, YMCA of Middletown CEO, said. Y officials will next present a modification of a second plan previously discussed with village officials on Tuesday , Jan. 15 to the Monroe Village Board.

Access, then approval The Y’s intent is to get the board’s attention as to “the dire need” it has to get the access way approved so it can submit plans for the necessary construction permits to the planning board, he added.

“It’s our opportunity to make a full-blown presentation on our proposal, and how we amended it, to what now constitutes the new village board, and make our case on updating them on we believe was the plan of the prior village board,” Besdansky said.

The requirement to have a second access way to the facility dates back to 2010 when the planning board approved plans for the Y’s construction and renovation work for its current site on the Gilbert Street Extension.

As part of that, the planning board told the Y that any future expansion plans would require a second access way to accommodate the additional vehicular traffic.

Turning onto Gilbert Street ExtensionCurrently, motorists get to the Y via Route 208. Depending what direction they’re coming from, there’s a tricky left hand turn to make onto Gilbert Street Extension at merge of Route 208 and a connecting road.

Also depending where they’re going, some drivers also need to negotiate a left hand turn out of Gilbert Street Extension onto Route 208.

Over the years, Besdansky said, the Y discussed two access road plans. The first required the support and approval from the Town of Monroe. It was proposed to be private access drive way for the Y to build and hand over to the town as that second access, off Orange & Rockland Road.

That plan was initially considered during tenure of former Town Supervisor Harley Doles, Besdansky said. But contentious issues tied to the former movie theater, an annexation proposal and public outcry against Doles’ administration caused Y officials to abandon that idea.

Instead, Y officials focused on a secondary plan in Village of Monroe boundaries beginning in 2013, during former Mayor James Purcell’s time in office. It would be to create an access way crossing the county’s Heritage Trail by the Y and emerge between Wally’s Ice Cream stand and the laundromat, connecting onto Route 17M.

That plan included the required engineering and traffic studies and was approved by the county (in a 19-0 vote by the County Legislature in September 2015) and, later, the state Department of Transportation, Besdansky said.

Purcell said he worked with two different village boards on this issue and kept them up-to-date on the status of activities. He said board members knew the county approved the plan. But he wasn’t able to bring it to a vote by the village board, because at the time, the DOT had not yet given its approval of the plan.

“So there was no reason to give up a piece of village-owned property or enter into a contractual agreement without NYSDOT approval,” Purcell said. “Without the approval, the YMCA would then have to look for another option.”

That same plan was presented to Mayor Neil Dwyer, who was a village trustee during Purcell’s tenure. Purcell said Dwyer was part of meetings with the Y and was kept up-to-date on activities.

In 2018, when that same plan was again re-presented to the village, Dwyer - as the new mayor - said the new board would not support it, citing safety issues.

So Y officials went back to the town, asking it to look at the initial plan considered during Doles’ time in office. At an August meeting, town officials said they were eager to support the Y and committed to helping find a resolution, going as far as asking its engineer to review the plan.

But months later, there’s still no resolution.

The town’s proposalTown of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone disputed the idea that the town wasn’t committed to helping the Y, saying the town board offered a license agreement to use the road for a five-year term. This was discussed at a recent board meeting.

Those five years would give the Y a lifeline to find a new second access way elsewhere to continue to meet the requirements of the Village Planning Board, according to Cardone.

“We have been forthcoming with what we legally could offer, which is a license agreement for the YMCA to use the road for a five-year license term,” he wrote in an email to The Photo News. “Additionally the YMCA maintains the ability to continue to seek the less cumbersome egress onto (Route) 17 (M) from that same town property. The town’s offer remains standing today.”

His email added: “The YMCA had rejected the offer as the YMCA was not satisfied with a license agreement. However, anything more than a license agreement would require encumbering the town property and that would implicate permissive referendum requirements since it would constitute a sale or lease of town property. The Town Board has provided a proposed plan of secondary access to the YMCA via a proposed license agreement.”

‘No funding, no Y’Besdansky took exception to Cardone’s remarks.

“With all due respect, the comment by the town supervisor is not only disappointing, but simply only a part of the answer,” he said. “Here is the entire story. Since our purchase of the building is predicated on the full Phase 2 expansion, the notion that a five-year licensing agreement for the required second means of egress will not satisfy our lender.”

Besdansky offered a potential stark reality about the Y’s expansion.

“No funding, no Y,” he wrote. “Additionally, why would a board of committed volunteers obligate the Y long-term and spend $2 million on construction of the road when there is no guarantee we will still be able to use the road in year 6? Furthermore, the notion that we come up with another access point to Route 17M (proposed by the town) over that five year period is, from a practical and engineering perspective, unworkable and prohibitively expensive.”

Also, Besdansky wrote: “The leadership of the village and the town must understand that we are here because we were invited by their constituents and the larger community, and our limited financial resources go toward serving the community and providing financial assistance to those who may have difficulty with the fees. And yes, layered on top of these issues is the fact the Village Planning board must feel comfortable in the long-term plan for the second means of egress.”

The plan to be presented next week has been amended to hopefully make it more appealing for the village’s consideration, Besdansky said.

“The Village Board is very supportive of all businesses, organizations and people who want the village to be a better place to live,” Dwyer said in an email to The Photo News. “If, and when, the Y makes a presentation to the board, the board will give it serious consideration and make a decision that is in the best interest of all the residents of the village. I cannot speak for the board and will allow them to hear from the YMCA.”

Purcell, the former mayor, was blunt in his perspective.

“What a shame it would be if the mayor and current village board were to let all the hard work of myself, multiple agencies and community’s involvement be for nothing, he said. “The YMCA plays a major role in our social fabric but just as important is the private public sector relationship that has brought such a community-based business to the Village of Monroe.”

Responding to the communityBesdansky stressed he hoped village officials understand the importance the Y has in the community, noting it’s the village’s third largest employer and contributes to the hyper-local economy.

He also stressed municipalities want to have Ys in their communities.

“I don’t want to underestimate the fact that everything we do, particularly this expansion, is relative to the community’s request for the YMCA to provide more services to the community,” Besdansky said. “It’s not me sitting in my office thinking about what can we do in Monroe? It’s me responding to the thousands of people living in Monroe saying, ‘We love the Y and see the value of services of the Y we want more services from the Y.’ It’s very important that the way the Y works is in response to community request for services.”

In his own words:

MONROE — A second access to the South Orange Family YMCA has been in the plans since the Y opened in 2011. In 2010, prior to its opening and as part of the permit process, the Village Planning Board told the Y that any future expansion must include a second access to the facility.Middletown YMCA CEO Ira Besdansky said the Y’s behind-the-scenes work to work with local officials to get a second access way has been taking place over the last eight years. The Photo News asked him to detail that work. Here’s his response: Starting in 2010 and continuing through January 2019:“(At the beginning, we had a) meeting with (former town supervisor) Sandy Leonard and (former town attorney)Langdon Chapman where we discussed the plan for utilizing the rear road through the town’s property as an eventual second means of egress to satisfy the village planning board’s condition of that egress prior to a Phase 2 expansion.“(There were) numerous conversations with Town Supervisor Harley Doles about the town road. He and the town board members were very supportive and discussed appropriating $200,000 for the finishing of the road. Ross (Miceli, branch executive director) and I worked closely with the supervisor to develop a ‘community park’ concept for the property. Most of the layout was done by Ross and me.“We were approached by Mayor (James) Purcell and (Monroe Village DPW Chief) Brian Smith and one village board member about the prospect of crossing the trail. It was clearly indicated to us that he thought this concept would be preferable to the planning board. We agreed and began our process.“We worked with the county over some time, gaining their approvals through their committee process, and eventually presented to the Legislature where we received unanimous (19-0) approval for the crossing. “We conducted our traffic study, to be used as an overlay to the Smith Farms and Crystal Run’s studies.“(We had) numerous conversations with Mayor Purcell, meetings with DOT and the village’s engineering firm relative to the road.“It was decided that the YMCA had full financial responsibility for the costs associated with the creation of the road and trail crossing.“We developed a full -blown plan for crossing the trail with all of the considerations voiced by the county. Much of the plan was modeled after the Chester crossing.“We made two presentations to the village trustees in executive session.“Mayor Purcell, Brian Smith and Y representatives met with DOT to discuss the crossing of the trail, where we received feedback on sidewalks, safety concerns, etc.“(We gave a) presentation to the Village Planning Board to elicit feedback. A cul-du-sac was added to prevent the potential of a direct cut through for those wishing to by-pass the congestion at the top of the bridge. We also incorporated other feedback to mediate their concerns of a cut- through, including speed bumps and staff in the lot during high traffic times.“(The) YMCA added considerations to the plan to accommodate the ice cream stand and the cleaner, with cost borne by the Y, cleaning up the entrance to the road and creating sidewalk flow to connect to the trail and the Y.“We engaged Senator Bill Larkin’s help. He facilitated two meetings with DOT to determine how the Y could move forward with our project as it appeared Smith Farm would be tied up for some period of time. DOT suggested that we re-apply as a simple driveway, as opposed to the full-blown intersection. We complied and it was approved by DOT.“(A) meeting with Mayor Dwyer indicated that he was not supportive of the plan to cross the trail and that the Y should work with the town on an alternative plan (possibly the rear road in the adjoining property)“We pursued the option of working with the town (reverting back to the plan during Doles’ time in office) and the town does not want to commit a licensing agreement past a five year period, and added the notion of creating another entrance to Route 17M across from Crystal Run, essentially killing the plan.“(We had a) meeting with Town Supervisor Cardone and Village Mayor Dwyer where we simply asked what their interest was in supporting a future for the Y. Decision was made to make presentation to the village board about the original plan to cross the trail.” The next presentation is Jan. 15 to Monroe Village Board.- Nancy Kriz